Islam's Reformers .pdf

against Allâhu ta’âlâ, who sees and knows all his secret andpublic behaviour and who is never mistaken. The hadîth, “Whata good human being Suhaib ar-Rûmî is. He wouldn’tcommit any sin even if he didn’t fear Allâhu ta’âlâ,” providesfor unity and indicates that fear is a strong means. Reformerssuppose that the fear of Allâhu ta’âlâ and love of Allâhu ta’âlâare different, and they like the latter and are against the formeronly because they are foreign to the religious knowledge andsources of Islamic religion.Men are advised to fear Allâhu ta’âlâ in the âyats, “Thosewho have much knowledge fear Allâhu ta’âlâ much” (sûratal-Fâtir, 28); “There are two heavens for the person whofears the greatness of his Allâhu ta’âlâ” (sûrat ar-Rahmân,46); “They alone are the believers whose hearts feel fearwhen Allâhu ta’âlâ is mentioned,” (sûrat al-Anfâl, 2; sûrat al-Hajj, 35) and “Those who obey Allâhu ta’âlâ and HisProphet and those who fear Allâhu ta’âlâ and who arecautious of Him are the ones that will be saved on the Dayof Judgement.” (sûrat an-Nûr, 52) It is easy to understand nowwhy the reformers who know nothing about these âyats do nothave any right to attempt to reform Islam or to criticize thereligious scholars who have placed the fear of Allâhu ta’âlâ intoMuslims’s hearts. If it were bad to place the fear of Allâhu ta’âlâin Muslims, it would be necessary (Allah forbid!) to criticize theQur’ân on account of this. Almost every page of the Qur’âninvites Muslims to the fear of Allâhu ta’âlâ with the command,“O ye who believe! Fear Allâhu ta’âlâ!” It is declared in thethirteenth âyat of the sûrat al-Hujurât, “To Allâhu ta’âlâ themost valuable of you is he who fears and is cautious ofHim.” ‘Ittiqâ’ in these âyats means ‘to fear’. It originates fromtheir imitating European Christians that reformers want toeradicate the fear of Allâhu ta’âlâ in Muslims and to replace itwith the thought that Allâhu ta’âlâ is only benevolent, mercifuland protective over His human creatures, as Christians believe.To love Allâhu ta’âlâ considering Him only as merciful,bountious and not to fear His wrath and punishments means toconsider Him weak like a ruler who is unable to operate the lawor like the parents who spoil their children by doing what theywish. Those who make progress in a path of tasawwuf, whenthey are suffused in His attribute of Jalâl (Severity), can notthink of the Divine Mercy or of the love of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and- 75 -